Actress Patty Duke achieved stardom as a child thanks to her
Academy Award wining portrayal of Helen Keller in the film adaptation
of “The Miracle Worker” (1962), for which she also
received a Golden Globe nomination. At age 16, she became the
youngest actress ever to win an Oscar in a competitive category. Duke
originated the role of Helen in the Broadway play “The Miracle
Worker” when she was 12 years old, and took home a Theatre
World Award. She later won an Emmy Award for playing Helen's teacher,
Annie Sullivan, a role originally played on Broadway by Anne
Bancroft, on a 1979 TV film version of the play. After her Oscar win,
Duke starred in her own sitcom, “The Patty Duke Show,”
which appeared on ABC from 1963 to 1966. She received Emmy and Golden
Globe nominations for her work on the show. She won Emmy Awards for
her work in the TV film “My Sweet Charlie” (1970) and the
TV miniseries “Captains and the Kings” (1976) and a
Golden Globe Award for the film “Me, Natalie” (1969).

In 1982, Duke was diagnosed with manic depression (now called
bipolar disorder), a fact she revealed in her autobiography in 1987.
She has since dedicated much of her time to supporting and educating
the public on mental health topics.

Duke has been married to present husband Michael Pearce since
1986. Together, they adopted a son named Kevin Pierce (born 1988).
She was previously married to Harry Falk (together from 1965 to
1970), Michael Tell (together from June to July 1970, the marriage
was annulled) and actor John Astin (together from 1972 to 1985). She
has two biological sons, actor Sean Astin (father: Michael Tell;
adopted by John Astin after the couple married in 1972) and Mackenzie
Astin (father: John Astin).

Anna Marie

Childhood and Family:

The youngest of three children, Anna Marie Duke, who would later
be popular as Patty Duke, was born on December 14, 1946, in Elmhurst,
New York, to John Patrick Duke, a handyman and cab driver, and
Frances Duke, a cashier. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother
was manic depressive. Her father left the family when she was six and
two years later, her mother put Patty under the care of John and
Ethel Ross. Recognizing her talent, the Ross’ launched her as a
child actress and managed her career. She attended the Quintano
School for Young Professionals in New York and received her Equity
card at age 7.

Patty has been married four times. On November 26, 1965, she
married director Harry Falk, who was thirteen years her senior, but
the marriage ended in divorce on March 24, 1970. During their
marriage, Patty attempted suicide, became anorexic and addicted to
alcohol and drugs. After the divorce, she made headlines with her
affair with 17 year old Desi Arnaz, Jr., the son of Lucille Ball.
Patty then dated actor John Astin, who was sixteen years her senior,
but around the same period also began a close relationship with rock
promoter Michael Tell. After realizing she was pregnant, she married
Tell on June 26, 1970, but the marriage was annulled on July 9, 1970.
She gave birth to her first child, son Sean Patrick Duke, on February
25, 1971, and married her former lover, John Astin, on August 5,
1972. John adopted Sean after the couple's marriage. On May 12, 1973,
the couple welcomed a new addition to their family, a son named
Mackenzie Astin. They divorced in 1985.

On March 15, 1986, Patty married drill sergeant Michael Pearce.
They moved to Idaho and adopted a son, Kevin Michael Pierce (born in
1988). She also has a stepdaughter named Charlene Pearce.

For years it was believed that John Astin was Sean's biological
father, but through a genetic test in 1994, it was revealed that
Sean's biological father is Michael Tell. Sean, however, considers
John his real father. Sean is married and has three kids. He starred
as Sam in the “Lord of the Rings” movies.

My Sweet Charlie

Career:

Patty Duke began her career as a child actress. When she was 9,
she made her feature debut as an extra in the 1955 biographical film
“I'll Cry Tomorrow,” starring Susan Hayward as Lilian
Roth. Two years later, she branched out to the small screen with a
part in “The Prince and the Pauper” (1957), an episode of
the series “The DuPont Show of the Month.” She went on to
appear in various TV shows, including “Kraft Television
Theatre,” “Rendezvous” and “Kitty Foyle.”
From 1958 to 1959, she portrayed Ellen Williams Dennis #1 on the CBS
daytime soap opera “The Brighter Day.”

However, Duke did not enjoy her first break until she was chosen
to play the blind and deaf child Helen Keller on the Broadway version
of “The Miracle Worker,” opposite Anne Bancroft as Annie
Sullivan. The play, adapted by William Gibson from his 1957
“Playhouse 90 Teleplay” of the same name, opened at the
Playhouse Theatre on October 19, 1959, and closed on July 1, 1961,
after 719 performances. It won four Tony Awards, including Best Play,
Best Direction, Best Actress (Bancroft) and Best Stage Technician.
Duke won a Theatre World Award in the category of Best Debut
Performance for her performance in the show.

In 1962, “The Miracle Worker” was adapted into a
highly acclaimed film with Duke and Bancroft reprising their noted
stage roles of Helen Killer and Annie Sullivan, respectively. The
film version, also directed by Arthur Penn and scripted by Gibson,
was nominated for five Academy Awards and won Best Actress in a
Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Bancroft and
Duke, respectively. At the time she won her Oscar, Duke was 16 and
became the youngest actress ever to do so. Duke also picked up a
Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden
Laurel Award for Top Female Supporting Performance for her
performance in the film.

Her popularity was confirmed again the following year when Duke
was asked to star in her own sitcom, “The Patty Duke Show,”
where she played twins Cathy and Patty Lane. The show ran on ABC from
September 18, 1963, to May 4, 1966, and brought the actress
an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an
Actress in a Series (Lead, 1964) and a Golden Globe nomination for
Best TV Star - Female (1966). She later won a TV Land in the category
of Favorite Dual Role Character (2004). Costars of the show included
William Schallert, Jean Byron, Paul O'Keefe and Eddie Applegate.
Meanwhile, in 1965, Duke also starred in the comedy musical “Billie”
and was nominated for a Golden Laurel in the category of Musical
Performance, Female for her work on the film. “Billie”
was a success and became the first film ever sold to a television
network.

In 1967, after the cancellation of her TV show, Duke made a try at
adult film stardom with “Valley of the Dolls,” in which
she starred as Neely O'Hara, opposite Susan Hayward as Helen Lawson
and Barbara Parkins as Anne Welles. An adaptation of the 1966 novel
of the same name by Jacqueline Susann, the film, directed by Mark
Robson, was a commercial success despite being panned by critics. She
closed out the decade starring as Natalie Miller in the Fred Coe
directed “Me, Natalie” (1969). Although the film was a
flop at the box office, it won the actress a Golden Globe Award for
Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy. She also received a
Golden Laurel nomination for Female Dramatic Performance for her work
on the film.

Opening the 1970s, Duke delivered a remarkable portrayal of
Marlene Chambers, a pregnant teenager on the run, in the NBC
television film “My Sweet Charlie” (1970), an adaptation
of the novel of the same name by David Westheimer. The film received
eight Emmy nominations and won the awards for Outstanding Writing
Achievement in Drama, Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for
Entertainment Programming - For a Special or Feature Length Program
Made for Television, and Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress
in a Leading Role, Duke's first Emmy Award.

Duke remained on the small screen throughout the 1970s with work
in a number of TV films, including “Two on a Bench”
(1971), “If Tomorrow Comes” (1971), “She Waits”
(1972), “Deadly Harvest” (1972), “Nightmare”
(1974), “Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby” (1976,
as Rosemary Woodhouse), “Fire” (1977), “Curse of
the Black Widow” (1977), “Killer on Board” (1977),
“The Storyteller” (1977), “Women in White”
(1979), “Hanging by a Thread” (1979) and “Before
and After” (1979). She also had guest spots in “Matt
Lincoln,” “Night Gallery,” “The Sixth Sense,”
“Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law,” “Hawaii Five-O,”
“Ghost Story,” “Wide World Mystery,” “Police
Story,” “Police Woman,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.,”
“The Streets of San Francisco” and “Rosetti and
Ryan.” She netted her second Emmy Award for her performance as
Bernadette Hennessey Armagh on the NBC miniseries “Captains and
the Kings” (1976), where she starred with Richard Jordan and
Harvey Jason. She also received Emmy nominations for her work on the
TV films “A Family Upside Down” (1978, as Wendy) and
“Having Babies III” (1978, as Leslee Wexler). In 1979,
Duke was cast as Annie Sullivan in the TV film remake of “The
Miracle Worker” (NBC), opposite Melissa Gilbert as Helen
Keller. Under the direction of Paul Aaron, she won an Emmy for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special. She also
starred in the 1972 drama “You'll Like My Mother” (with
Rosemary Murphy and Richard Thomas) and the 1978 horror film “The
Swarm” (opposite Michael Caine and Katherine Ross).

Duke continued to give notable performances in the early 1980s. In
the ABC made for TV film “The Women's Room” (1980), she
costarred as Lily and was nominated for an Emmy in the category of
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for
her performance. She picked up another Emmy nomination for
Outstanding Individual Achievement - Children's Programming for her
work on the syndicated TV film “The Girl on the Edge of Town”
(1981), opposite Sherry Hursey and Brad Wilkin. She next starred as
Barbara Reynolds in the ABC Afterschool Special “Please Don't
Hit Me, Mom” (1981), where her real life son, Sean Astin,
played the role of Brian Reynolds, appeared as Molly Quinn in the ABC
sitcom “It Takes Two” (1982-1983), opposite Richard
Crenna, and received her next Emmy nomination for her portrayal of
Martha Washington on the CBS TV miniseries “George Washington”
(1984), which starred Barry Bostwick. In 1984, she received a Daytime
Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement
in Religious Programming - Performers for her work on “The Hit
Man,” an episode of the syndicated series “Insight,”
and a Bronze Wrangler for Fictional Television Drama for her work in
the western “September Gun” (1983, with Robert Preston).
She returned to features with a starring role in the Canadian
produced drama “By Design” (1982), from which she was
nominated for a Genie in the category of Best Performance by a
Foreign Actress.

In 1985, Duke was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild and
became the second female to hold the post. She resigned after three
years in 1988. During her stint at SAG, she remained active in the
world of acting. She was cast as President Julia Mansfield on the ABC
sitcom “Hail to the Chief” (1985), reprised Martha
Washington in the sequel “George Washington II: The Forging of
a Nation” (CBS, 1986) and starred as Karen Matthews in the
short lived sitcom “Karen's Song” (Fox, 1987). She also
appeared on the TV films “A Time to Triumph” (1986),
“Fight for Life” (1987) and “J.J. Starbuck”
(1988) and had a role in “Willy/Milly” (1986), a film
directed by Paul Schneider. Duke next appeared in the TV films “Perry
Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace” (1988, as Althea Sloan),
“Fatal Judgement” (1988, as Anne Capute), “Amityville:
The Evil Escapes” (1989, as Nancy Evans) and “Everybody's
Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure” (1989, as Carolyn Henry)
and in the 1989 feature “The Hitch-Hikers,” by Alan
Bergmann.

In 1990, Duke's autobiography “Call Me Anna” was made
into a TV film, where Duke played herself from her mid 30s onward.
She also served as co-producer under the name of Anna Duke-Pearce.
The same year, she starred in the TV film “Always Remember I
Love You,” alongside Stephen Dorff and David Birney. Following
work in the TV films “Absolute Strangers” (1991), “Last
Wish” (1992) and “Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop
Drive” (1992) and in the animated series “The Legend of
Prince Valiant” (1991-1992, as the voice of Lady Morgana), Duke
was cast as the mother of Meg Ryan in the film adaptation of the play
“Prelude to a Kiss” (1992). She did not appear in another
feature until 1999's “Kimberly,” starring Gabrielle
Anwar. He son, Sean Astin, also appeared in the film as Bob.

In between “Prelude to a Kiss” and “Kimberly,”
Duke could be seen in such TV films as “A Killer Among Friends”
(1992), “Family of Strangers” (1993), “No Child of
Mine” (1993), “A Matter of Justice” (1993), “One
Woman's Courage” (1994), “Cries from the Heart”
(1994), “When the Vows Break” (1995), “Race Against
Time: The Search for Sarah” (1996), “Harvest of Fire”
(1996), “To Face Her Past” (1996), “A Christmas
Memory” (1997) and “When He Didn't Come Home”
(1998). She also served as executive producer and starred in the
short lived series “Amazing Grace” (NBC, 1995) and had
the same duty for the reunion TV film “The Patty Duke Show:
Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights” (CBS, 1999). In 1999, she
nabbed an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest
Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Nancy on the “Touched
by an Angel” episode titled “I Do” (1998).

In the new millennium, Duke gradually decreased her work schedule
but still occasionally did TV and film work. She played Anne Kincaid
in the TV film “Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family
Story” (2000), Sunny Andrews in the CBS movie “Love
Lessons” (2000) and Sylvia in CBS' “Little John”
(2002). She also guest starred in episodes of “Family Law”
(2001), “First Years” (2001) and “Judging Amy”
(2004). She returned to “Touched by an Angel” for the
2003 episode “I Will Walk with You,” this time playing
Jean, and revisited the New York stage in a revival of “Oklahoma”
(2002), playing Aunt Eller.

After successful bypass surgery in 2004, Duke costarred with her
son, Sean Astin, in the 2005 comedy feature “Bigger Than the
Sky,” for director Al Corley. The same year, she also narrated
the short “Take Me Home: A Child's Experience of Internment.”
She next teamed up with Crystal Allen in the TV movie “Falling
in Love with the Girl Next Door” (2006), with her son Mackenzie
Astin, in the film “The Four Children of Tander Welch”
(2008) and in Hallmark Channel's “Love Finds a Home”
(2009). She then appeared with Lolita Davidovich and Caroline Néron
in the Canadian TV film “Throwing Stones” (2009) and
replaced Carol Kane as Madame Morrible in the San Francisco
production of the musical “Wicked,” a role she played
from March 2009 to February 2010. Recently, in 2010, Duke portrayed
Irene in the TV film “Unanswered Prayers,” opposite Eric
Close, Samantha Mathis and Mädchen Amick.

In addition to
being an actress, Duke was a successful singer in the 1960s. She had
two Top 40 hits in 1965 with “Don't Just Stand There”
(#8) and “Say Something Funny” (#22). She also released
such singles as “Whenever She Holds You” (1966, #64),
“Little Things Mean A Lot” (1966), “The Wall Came
Tumbling Down” (1966), “Why Don't They Understand”
(1966), “Come Live With Me” (1967) and “Dona Dona”
(1968). Her albums included “Don't Just Stand There”
(1965), Patty” (1965), “Patty Duke's Greatest Hits”
(1966), “TV's Teen Star” (1967) and “Songs from
Valley of The Dolls and Other Selections” (1967).